Tales from the City of Gold

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A city built on gold, Johannesburg was founded in 1886,
when settlers and immigrants descended on the largest reef of the
precious metal ever to be discovered. The area transformed quickly
into a mining mecca. Within fifty years, over three hundred
thousand people were working in gold mines across the city. This
vast and rapid expansion reflected the increasing global thirst for
gold as a commodity and helped fuel a government that changed South
Africa forever.

Long after the mining has finished, its environmental and
social impact is still embedded in the fabric of modern
Johannesburg. Tailings dams, the by-product of past extractions,
now exist as manufactured mountains of waste. Six billion tonnes of
these 'mine dumps' form the backdrop of Southern Africa's largest
city. These vast monuments are a constant reminder of the
productivity of the past, whilst attracting a plethora of
contemporary activities. With around four hundred thousand people
currently living around the six billion tonnes of toxic waste, the
resurgence of re-mining the dumps for remaining gold is stirring an
already fragile existence for many.

Tales From The City Of Gold explores these tailings as an
integrated extension of the thriving metropolis that surrounds
them. Anthropological in its approach, this project is the result
of living in Johannesburg for two years, observing the ordinary and
extraordinary nature of life alongside the dumps. Focusing on the
coexistence between past and present allows a unique perspective on
the actions of previous generations and reveals that impact on our
society and environment today.

Jason Larkin (b 1979) is a British photographer,
internationally recognised for his long-term social documentary
projects and environmental portraiture. His immersive process and
slow approach allow for comprehensive bodies of work that reveal
and frame important social, economic and political issues. His work
is subtle and layered and often concerned with contextualising
present realities through historical legacies.